EXCLUSIVE: Who’s At Fault For Dead Wrestlers?

The following is the exclusive return column by former WWE and current ROH announcer, Kevin Kelly:

Who’s at Fault for Dead Wrestlers?

Just like you, I am weary… worn out… sick of it. It’s taken me a while to put this together… summarize my thoughts and temper my emotions. With the apparent suicide of Chris Kanyon, another name has been added to the disturbing list of wrestler deaths over the past twenty years. After every incident, people become more and more numb to it. Good for Rob Van Dam and Mike Bell, who have both recently written about the cause and I think it’s time to stop coddling those who abuse painkillers in wrestling.

I was watching an episode of “Intervention” on A&E recently that featured a girl who got high from huffing canned air. I didn’t feel sorry for her. I wanted to punch her in the face. Anyone who is stupid enough to short-circuit their brain deserves a kick in the ass and a point in the right direction. Now with painkillers and wrestlers, the abuse usually starts off with a perfectly good reason for the use. But a punch in the face is owed to everyone who goes too far.

It’s about personal responsibility.

A wrestler who gets messed up on Somas is no different than the girl who huffs canned air.

I have many, many friends in the wrestling business who don’t abuse drugs and have wrestled for decades. I used to have many more friends who never learned the lesson and have died because of their stupidity.

It’s not the “business’s fault”. It’s not the “promoter’s fault”. It’s not the “fans’ fault”. It’s the user’s fault. The boys need to police themselves and handle those who do not adhere to this need for personal responsibility.